Topic marker

A topic marker is a grammatical particle used to mark the topic of a sentence. It is found in Japanese, Korean, Ryukyuan, Imonda, and, to a limited extent, Classical Chinese. It often overlaps with the subject of a sentence, causing confusion for learners, as most other languages lack it. It differs from a subject in that it puts more emphasis on the item and can be used with words in other roles as well.

Korean: 는/은

In Korean, 는 (neun) and 은 (eun) function similarly to the Japanese topic marker. 는 (neun) is used after words that end in a vowel and 은 (eun) is used after words that end in a consonant.

Example

In the following example, "school" (Hangul: "학교"; Hanja: 學校; RR: hakkyo) is the subject, and it is marked as the topic.

학교	는	저기	에	있다.
Hakkyo	neun	jeogi	e	itta.
school	[topic marker]	there	LOC	is.
(The) school is there.

Japanese: は

The topic marker is one of many Japanese particles. It is written with the hiragana は, which is normally pronounced ha, but when used as a particle is pronounced wa. It is placed after whatever is to be marked as the topic. If what is to be the topic would have had が (ga), the subject marker, or を ((w)o), the direct object marker, as its particle, those are replaced by は. Other particles (for example: に, と, or で) are not replaced, and は is placed after them.

The English phrase "as for" is often used to convey the connotation of は, although in many cases this sounds unnatural when used in English. It does, however, convey some senses of the particle, one of which is to mark changing topics. If a person were speaking about someone else and then switched to referring to himself, he should say 私は (watashi wa), "as for me...". After that, it wouldn't be necessary to mention again that he was speaking about himself.

Example

In the following example, "car" (車, kuruma) is the subject, and it is marked as the topic. The が that would normally be there to mark the subject has been replaced by は. The topic normally goes at the beginning of the clause.

車	は	新しい	です。
kuruma	wa	atarashii	desu.
car	[topic marker]	new	is.
(The) car is new.

Okinawan: や

Similar to Japanese above, Okinawan, a Ryukyuan language closely related to Japanese, features a topic marker や ya that serves exactly the same function. However, if the topic is not a proper noun or ends with a long vowel, it tends to merge creating long vowels such as wan ya > wan nee "I am".

Example

あんまー	や	ちゅらさん	やいびーん。
anmaa	ya	churasan	yaibiin.
mother	[topic marker]	beautiful	is.
Mother is beautiful.

Classical Chinese: 者 (Zhě)

Zhě is similar to the Japanese wa, but is used sporadically in Classical Chinese and only when an author wants to emphasize the topic. Zhě is usually omitted, unlike in Japanese where a topic marker is generally required. Note that although Zhě can be used as a suffix attached to a verb or adjective, transforming the verb or adjective into a noun, as a topic marker, its grammatical function is fundamentally different from that of a suffix and therefore cannot be viewed as a suffix.

As an example, consider the sentence "陈胜者，阳城人也" (Chénshèng zhě, yángchéng rén yě), a famous sentence from the Records of the Grand Historian:

• Literal translation: Chen Sheng is a Yangcheng person.
• Semantic translation: Chen Sheng is from Yangcheng originally.
• Word for word explanation:
  • Chénshèng: name of a 3rd-century B.C. rebel.
  • Zhě: Topic marker.
  • Yángchéng: name of a town.
  • Rén: person.
  • Yě: Is. (Ye means is, am, or are when used in conjunction with Zhĕ; it can mean other things when used independently.)

Note that 者, as well as the sentence of "Chénshèng zhě, yángchéng rén yě," is romanized here according to modern Mandarin pronunciations. It is unclear how 者 and the entire sentence would have been pronounced 2,000 years ago (and what the proper romanization should have been).

Classical Chinese

陈胜	者	阳城	人	也。
Chénshèng	zhě	yángchéng	rén	yě.
person name	[topic marker]	town name	person	is.
Chen Sheng is a Yangcheng person. <Chen Sheng is from Yangcheng originally.>

Note: The structure of this sentence <zhě + yě> is much more similar to the Japanese <wa + desu> structure than to modern Chinese, where topic markers have been completely lost and are not used anywhere. As the following,

Modern Chinese

陈胜	(是)	阳城	人。
Chénshèng	(shì)	yángchéng	rén.
person name	(is)	town name	person.
Chen Sheng (is) a Yangcheng person. <Chen Sheng is from Yangcheng originally.>

Note: <shì> can be omitted in some occasions.

Bengali টা / গুল

Similar to Japanese, Bengali nouns are followed by a marker. A nominative noun phrase in Bengali is usually followed by "Ta" "টা" (singular) or "gulo" "গুল" (plural). To mark an object "Ta-ke" "টাকে" follows a singular noun phrase and "gulo-ke", "গুলকে" follows a plural noun phrase. To show possiveness "R" / "র" is added after the noun if the noun ends with a vowel. If the word ends in a consonant, the possessive form is "Er", "এর".

Eg. ছাত্রটা ভালো আছে।
Chatro-ta bhalo ache.
The student good is.
The student is good.

See also

• Topic-prominent language
• Topic (linguistics)
• Japanese grammar
  • Thematic wa
  • Contrastive wa
• Japanese particles
  • wa

References

• James Clackson (2007) Indo-European linguistics: an introduction
• Ivan G. Iliev (2007) On the Nature of Grammatical Case ... (Case and Vocativeness)

External links

• Joshi (Particles) in Japanese – Meguro Language Center
• Wiktionary definition of は as a particle